If you’ve ever handled kevlar you’d understand why. Kevlar can be cut with a pair of decent fabric scissors (due to it’s low compressive strength), is far more flexible and lightweight than leather of similar density, and is designed in such a way as to provide maximum protection with minimal layers. Leather does stop bullets, up to a certain caliber, but leather sufficient to provide protection from rounds in excess of .25 (or low power 9mm) would be extremely bulky. Go check out some motorcycle leathers sometime, they’re hardly lightweight or super flexible.
The idea behind adding leather reinforcement to gear is not adding thin, designer style leather like you’d find in an off the shelf jacket or pair of pants, but rather protection on par with welding gauntlets or butcher (or if you’re so inclined blacksmith) aprons. What you see when you look at a lot of kevlar protective gear is kevlar reinforced with an epoxy which gives it the rigid structure seen in police and military gear. In addition heavier protection (classed as III and IV by the National Institute of Justice) is provided by polyethlene, ceramic, or even steel plates inserted into a kevlar carrier (we see this already in game as MBR vests). Since kevlar is a tightly woven plastic fiber with extremely high tensile strength it can provide protection with minimal weight and loss of mobility.[/quote]
I would agree with you here EXCcccceeppppttttt…no…While a sheet of kevlar is maleable and perhaps relatively easy to cut, in game however are prefabricated items like a vest. It takes a machine to stitch kevlar and unless you used 15 or so sheets of it, it doesn’t much against stabbing. Prisons last I hear were in the market for something that could prevent guards getting shanked and kevlar wasn’t doing the job. There is a chemical solution however that when added to a standard vest, it can take a ice pick up to a few hundred pounds, because the chemical(i forgot the name) seeps into the gaps of the kevlar sheets and tightens when a sharp point is applied.
Also as you point out in regard to leather. Leather in game is higher than kevlar annnnnnnd no…it won’t stop a standard packed bullet(dangerous even if it were half packed birdshot at 10 feet). You can’t convince me here, because half the sources of leather are from prefab garments, like pants and boots etc. While you can hunt animals for skin and make your own leather. It will still not be as good as those biker jackets. I live near a Harley shop and a leather shop(they don’t make stuff, but sell 100’s of items). Sooo…yes, actually it is think malleable designer leather. The real problem I see is not that you are wrong. In fact, I can agree with some biker jackets. But the real problem I’m seeing now is there are 2 types of leather in play, under 1 umbrella. Standard thin and heavy duty hard stuff. I’m vexed now…because I doubt the devs are going to add this distinction =/
(awesome though this would be…naturally solving this entire argument)
While many prefab leather garments are thin. There are indeed some seriously heavy duty leather garments that could be legit armor. So unless we ask the devs to make the distinction in game. I doubt either side will be happy.
Feel free to consider this an polite request of the devs for thin and hard leather distinction. I’d like it if other people would ask for this too. Since there are tons of thin leather items in game and hard leather items too.[/quote]
I think the more blunt answer that others are skirting around is in order. Allow me to do that with some statements.
Leather from a consumer product is not the only leather out there. Your leather clothes might protect you from a boo boo when you bumped into the metal shelving but it won’t protect you from an assailant intentionally attacking you with an edged weapon. Heavy leather stuff like leather armor from medieval military gear would. It will be thick, heavy, stiff and encumbering. If you cut up a consumer product you only get a few patches because it’d need to be layered to get an armor patch from it. Kevlar is flexible and it is only typically a dozen layers. It protects from bullets, not knives. That is why soft armor (Kevlar) typically has a pocket for a hard plate to stop a knife. Knives and bullets aren’t the same. And yes, you can sew it with a sewing machine.
Metal armor is encumbering as others pointed out. It needs a larger scale to differentiate which Kevin already pointed out as well. Encumberment is not just about weight and not just range of motion. Socks that are too loose will encumber your feet if you have to hike in them. Shoes even two sizes too big or small make running a real challenge.
I think you might look at most of this and think ‘gee I want to get more outta this’ and you imagine yourself standing in your room and how a plate armor suit would be no big deal. If you’ve worn real armor and actually conducted real exercises with it (like I actually have) you’ll see how sprinting for your life, avoiding strike with all your might at the last second and swinging with all your might to make a killing blow or holding a rifle and looking down the ironsights while heaving for air can be encumbering. Anyone who has worn modern plate carriers will attest to how they would interfere (ie., encumber) your ability to swing a weapon, shoulder a rifle to track a running target at 50 meters, wrestle with a combatant in CQC or sneak a box of Toast-'ems from the shelf while escaping notice of the Hulk outside. Heck, with plate armor, you can engage in combat and never get hit and still end up with cuts, bruises and pinches from the armor itself. And heatstroke. Never tried to shoulder or fire a rifle with plate but that’d be comically infuriating.[/quote]
A lot of people attribute the code of chivalry to the reason why the plate wearing knights of yore never used bows in battle.
I tried it at a medieval re-enactment battle three years back.
I could barely reach the bloody quiver nevermind stretch to fire the damned thing.
